The Other World
by TinyBird1010
Summary: First few chapters explore the world of Black Rock Shooter, Dead Master and Chariot from their POV as the anime occurred. However, after Mato visited their world and the rainbow cannon was fired, their worlds became one. BRS and the others must now live in the human world and experience love, joy, anger, longing, sadness, emptiness, and loss. (BRS X DM) (OC:1)
1. The Other World

The bell rang and everyone slowly made their way to the front of the building. At first glance it looked like it was just a bunch of ordinary girls attending school but in closer inspection, you would notice they had horns, tails, and fire in their eyes and most importantly… weapons? Yes, weapons. From bows and arrows to cannons three times their size. You would think they were going to war- which in a sense they were- rather than going to school. But that's where they were headed, to the School of Dead Warriors.

Rock checked the electronic bulletin board to see if she had class or battle today. Like everyone else in the Realm of Death, she loved her mortal soul mate, Mato, and would do anything to keep her from suffering but sometimes she hoped Mato would get hurt just a little by her friend Yomi so that she could get chance to pulverize that annoying, green-horn freak by the name of Dead Master, who was Yomi's soul mate. Rock knew it was against the rules to have feelings, especially for those in the mortal world but she hated both Yomi and Dead Master. She hated them for different reasons but with the same intensity. She despised Yomi for causing Mato pain and hated Dead Master for being, well…HER. Ever since she had awakened as a warrior in the Realm of Death she had hated her and her atmosphere of superiority. She was really hoping to get to battle her but was disappointed when she saw she had no battle again. Rock was about to go to class when she suddenly noticed that Yuu was just walking into the building looking as gloomy as always. No one really cared about Yuu, not that they were allowed to care for others in the first place, but Rock couldn't help but notice her everyday as she walked in the hallways. Yuu had never gotten into a fight or gone into battle. That had a simple explanation. She did not belong there.

Yuu was from the mortal world, yet she and been able to exchange places with her soul mate Strength. Black Gold Saw, the school's head master, had approved and helped with the process of switching places. It had never been done before but they saw it as necessary for the safety of both Yuu and Strength since Strength's battles were not helping Yuu enough in the mortal world. Once the exchange had been done, things went back to normal and Yuu was enrolled as a student at the Dead Warrior Academy. Most people just referred to her as Strength since they were almost identical even though everyone knew she was Yuu. Yuu never got into battles because Strength kept true to her promise-and the rules- and did not have feelings. Rock had never had any feelings or cared much for Strength when she had been at the Realm but was glad she had gone to the mortal world. Her presence there had helped Mato go back to being her innocent happy self. Rock had just awakened as a warrior when this was going on so she was not able to battle for Mato's happiness.

Rock went and got in line for roll check in sector 2B. This was the first class of the day and Rock could not wait any longer for it to start. Unlike most of her classes, where she had to read books about the mortal world and how to destroy different kinds of emotions, she actually got to practice her fighting techniques here. They were allowed to do as much damage to each other, even kill if necessary, in this class. It was her first time attending it and was hoping Dead Master had that class too. "Dead Master?" The instructor called. Silence responded. Just for Rock's luck, the day she actually was in that class, Dead Master wasn't there. Rock wondered, "Battle? With who would she…?" She noticed Yuu wasn't in that class either. Could it be…? Nah. Why would Yuu battle Dead Master? Strength had no feelings so Yuu shouldn't have to fight. Unless Yomi….

Rock ran to the bulletin board after class was over. Their names weren't in the bulletin. Then why? Just as she began to think of all the possibilities as to why they hadn't been there she spotted the green horns and the tail. Dead Master looked down at Rock and smirked. Why was that insignificant blue-headed chick staring at her? She looked at her with arrogance before turning her head and walking right pass her. "Of course, little Miss Perfect doesn't NEED to go to class." Thought Rock as Dead Mater walked pass her with her long greenish-black tail trailing behind her. Rock smirked as she stepped on it. The room went quiet as Dead Mater turned around to face her aggressor. Rock knew it was a bad idea from the beginning but impulse got the best of her. Dead Master's eyes glowed green with anger as she glared at Rock. Rock's eyes lit blue with excitement and anticipation. "Just one punch; that's all I need." Thought Rock but just then, the bell rang. Neither one of them cared much about class but the others hurried and disappeared into the classrooms. With them gone, Dead Master and Rock were quickly spotted by Black Gold Saw. They both turned to face the headmaster, automatically turning their eyes back to normal. Dead Master was more than furious now that, not only had someone stepped on her precious tail, but was also being forced to go to class. They were being escorted down to the dungeons, Sector -1D. It was not a favorite class for most warrior but they all knew it was necessary. This class showed them how to open the portal. While they weren't allowed to go through the portal, they were allowed to see through it. Both Rock and Dead Master knew how to open one during the day (Memories of mortals) and so they sat down on opposite sides of the room and each opened their own portal. Rock was pleased to see Mato was laughing with Strength. She noticed Strength was laughing along with her and wondered if she would one day be able to do the same but quickly stopped as she knew it would mean trading places with Matos and going to the mortal world.

Class was about to end when Dead Master stood up. She closed the portal and marched towards where Rock sat, calmly looking at her own portal and closing it. With green fire burning in her eyes she made her death scythe appear on her hand. Using the bottom portion of her weapon, she knocked Rock's head causing Rock to fall over. Rock stood up, gridding her teeth and glaring at her with blue flames in her eyes. A weapon appeared on Rock's hands just as Black Gold Saw appeared on the doorway. Her expression was calm but her tone of voice and atmosphere made everyone turn towards her in fear. Rock's flames even died out. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked looking back and forth from Rock to Dead Master. "I request a battle; RIGHT NOW." demanded Dead Master whose eyes were still burning with green flames. "Denied" answered Black Gold Saw, her expression cold. "Battles are decided by me and other members of the school board. We then give them to warriors if they seem fit for the battle. Warriors, however, are not allowed to request a battle and nor are they allowed to decline one." Continued the head master, seeing Dead Master was not backing down and was still burning with anger and determination. "I DEMAND A TRI-WAR" The room went quiet. Rock looked up at Dead Mater in disbelief. A Tri-War? There hadn't been one of those in ages! Rock, along with most of the other warriors, had only read about them in sector 3H. "A tri-war? Foolish girl. Who is your soul mate?" asked Black Gold Saw, her eyes now glowing red. She had never had a warrior student stand up to her. "Yomi Takanashi" answered Dead Master with pride. Black Gold Saw looked at her records. Only once before had Yomi Takanashi been in need for a battle. Well two if you counted when Dead Master was awaken. "And with whom would you have this Tri-war with?" she asked still examining Yomi's records. "I request my battle with Black Rock Shooter and Yuu." Black Gold Saw stopped examining her records and stared at Dead Master. "Yuu? You know you can't battle Yuu. Why do you even want a Tri-war with us?" asked Rock before Black Gold Saw could even ask the same thing. Dead Master glared down at her and hit her with her scythe again before answering. "Yomi is in pain. Mato and Strength are the cause of it. I demand a tri-war to take away both pains, after all, the job of a warrior is to destroy our soul mate's suffering."

The electronic bulletin board showed the event of the day: Tri-War for Mato, Yomi, and Strength. Rock was getting her weapon-canon ready while Dead Master was sharpening her scythe. Neither was planning to lose. As they entered the arena, Rock realized she hadn't seen Yuu. She wondered if she'd even show up and what would happen if she didn't. Just then, however, Yuu appeared in her orange vest with two massive canons on both arms and a full metal armor under her vest. "Pffft mortals" hissed Dead Master with distaste. Everyone was there to watch. Even Chariot had gone.

With every second that passed Yomi suffered more. That was the thing about battles. They relieved the mortal from all their pain but in the process they suffered. The ones causing the pain to that person suffered a little bit too so battles were only done when necessary. Black Gold Saw announced the names of the three warriors who would be battling that day. In a matter of seconds, the battle began… and both Rock and Dead Master were on the ground.

As they looked around looking for who ever had shot them, they noticed the gray smoke coming out of the orange canons. "Yuu?" asked Rock and Dead Master in unison. They had never pondered on the possibility of Yuu winning. Dead Master didn't wait; she stood up and ran at full speed towards Yuu. Yuu's eyes opened wide in fear and shot again. The blast of the canon was not enough to stop Dead Master this time. She swung her scythe and caused a slash on Yuu's vest. Yuu looked around in panic trying to find Dead Master but then she felt it and stood petrified in fear as she felt Dead Master's cold hands caress her face. A cold laugh escaped her green lips. Yuu started to panic. She had seen Dead Master fight once before. She had fought Chariot a few days back and had finished her off in the most dramatic way she had ever seen. Dead Master had a thing for being dramatic so she had sneaked behind Chariot and whispered something to her ear before slashing her neck with her scythe. Something told Yuu that Dead Master wasn't going to do that this time. No, she would do something worse.

She looked at Rock, who was still lying on the ground with fear in her eyes. Rock saw as Yuu's lips started to form a word but the sound never came out. In the blink of an eye, red blood stained the arena. There, in the very center, stood Dead Master hugging Yuu. Yuu let out a small scream/yelp like a wounded dog before falling to her knees; Death Master's tail having gone through her armor and chest. She quickly took her tail out the armor and kissed Yuu's cheek before pushing her head to the ground. Everyone's eyes turned towards Rock who had finally stood up and was now holding her cannon, ready to attack. There was a black out and the only light in the arena was a blue glow coming from Rock's cannon. There was a low growl and then a massive light beam was shot from the cannon. The lights came back on and there stood Rock, smiling… alone? Everyone looked at the wall where the light had hit, expecting to see a wounded Dead Master. But there was no sign of her. Rock stopped smiling and went to check that spot up close. Just then, a loud scream was heard from the sky and something green crashed down on earth. It was Dead Master. She had landed right behind Rock and managed to throw her to the ground with her scythe. Rock looked up and saw the anger and satisfaction in Dead Master's face. Rock tried to stand up but Death Master stopped her and scratched her legs in the process. Rock knew this was for the best and it was going to happen anyways so she closed her eyes and laid on the floor. If she didn't die, they would kill Dead Master. Or at least that's what she had heard. Rock felt herself being lift up with Dead Master's scythe, the blade cutting on the back of her neck. Dead Master brought her close to her face. She stabbed her with her tail and whispered into her ear "No one harms MY Yomi. No one causes pain to MY little bird." Before pulling out her tail and slashing Rock one more time and then throwing her into the distance with her tail. The battle was over. Dead Master had won but… where was Yuu's body? Black Gold Saw and the other members of the school didn't think it was important and forgot about it. They took Rock's body to the clinic and took away Yomi's memory of pain. Rock should be fine by the next day; death was only temporary after all. As Dead Master was being rewarded with Yomi's happiness, she thought she had seen a shadow. She didn't pay much attention to it but that shadow had actually belonged to Yuu. Yuu went and hid in her house, almost unable to breathe. She had awakened a little after the battle had ended. She didn't understand. Her wound was gone even though there was still a hole in her armor. She felt empty inside, no longer shy or scared. Her canons were gone too! Just then, she felt rage and anger consume her. She looked down and saw the canons appear in her hands. She then ran to look at her reflection. Yuu stood back and gasped at what she saw. Her eyes were bright orange flames and her hair was snow white rather than the usual brown. She was no longer mortal. She was one of them.


	2. The Merge

The Other World: Merge

Yuu woke up to her alarm to go to school. As she stood up, she sensed that something was odd. She looked down and noticed she was already in uniform but the colors seemed weird; in fact, everything seemed a different color now. She decided to go to the restroom but stood petrified in shook when she saw herself in the mirror. Standing in front of her, was an expressionless girl who resembled her, yet looked so different. As she moved, so did the girl. She saw the girl's eyes light up in orange flames and realized the horrifying truth. That girl was her and she was dead. All at once, the memories of the tri-war came to her. She remembered Rock's death and Dead Master's victory. She was dead but, what exactly was she? A guardian/warrior? Of whom? Strength was her guardian so she couldn't be one… Strength! Did she know? Could she feel the change? Even though all of this questions were going through her head, not one part of her was worried. In fact, she couldn't feel anything at all. At the thought of that, Yuu brightened up a little. She no longer had feelings. Well, she felt a little but her fears and worries were gone. She was free.

The school bell rang and Yuu made her way to the electronic bulletin board. No battles today. She looked for her name and found she had class in -1D which meant she had portal training again. She wondered if the headmaster knew. She probably did, or else why would they put her in that class, right? As she made her way there, she saw Dead Master walking down the hallway looking as mischievous and arrogant as ever. Dead Master didn't seem to notice her much but instead noticed Rock, who had been walking behind her looking disturbed. Dead Master didn't care about Rock, in fact, she hated her to the very soul but something was wrong and that made her uneasy.

When Yuu got to class, she noticed Rock was in it too. They each went to a different part of the room and tried to open their own portal. Yuu didn't really know how to open a portal since this was the first time she ever tried so she decided to go ask Rock. Upon arriving to where Rock was sitting, she noticed that Rock hadn't opened a portal. She tapped Rock's shoulder and the guardian who looked back was not her at all. Rock's eyes were pure black and her face was paler than usual. She really looked dead, even for a guardian. "Rock?" You asked as she shook her a little. Rock's face had no response but her lips moved to form the words "It's blank". Yuu asked what she was talking about and Rock responded "The portal. It's blank. I can't see Mato's world. Her memories, they're gone. I don't- I don't understand." Rock's eyes seemed to focus a little before they burst into blue flames and she let out an ear-piercing scream. By instinct, Yuu stood up and moved away from her; her cannons appearing at her side automatically. She looked around and noticed everyone was looking up. There, on the place where the headmaster usually showed her own portal, was Mato. They all looked at her and suddenly a voice was heard "Yomi? Can you hear me? Where are you?" Yuu realized this must be Mato's voice but that didn't make any sense. Why was Rock's portal on there? At the thought of Rock, Yuu looked down and noticed Rock was still on the ground but she seemed alive again. She hadn't seen her like that since the day she confronted Dead Master. Rock was staring at the ground with flames and fury in her eyes and suddenly, a weapon appeared next to her.

Dead Master had been in the hallways when she heard Yomi's name. She walked around trying to figure out who had said it and finally found the source in the dungeons. When she entered, the most peculiar scene was set. Mato, Rock's soul mate, was on the main portal and Rock was looking down at the ground in full guardian mode. "Yomi? Where are you? Please, come back. I'm here" said Mato. Dead Master's face hardened and she looked down at Rock. Rock saw her staring and stood up. "This is your fault, you idiotic bastard! She came here just because of you and your stupid Tri-War!" She said as she advanced towards Dead Master. Dead Master didn't move an inch and did not respond to this accusations but instead, her eyes turned into green flames that matched Rock's intensity. Yuu just watched and waited for a battle to break out again but she honestly hoped that this time, she wouldn't be involved in it. However, no battle broke out. Rock simply walked out the room and Dead Master made her own portal.

Yuu decided to ask Dead Master about her portal since she still didn't know how to make one and didn't want to ask any of the other guardians there. Dead Master looked down at her but for some reason decided to help her make one anyway. After giving her detailed instructions on how to do it, Dead Master told Yuu to do it. Yuu tried to open her portal but when she did, the portal was blank. She looked at Dead Master and saw that she was frowning. "Leave it open. Since it's your first time, it might take a while but it should work." As Dead Master walked away, Yuu saw something starting to form in the portal. It looked like gray rocks and she knew what it was. Suddenly, Yuu felt something inside of her move. Something she knew quite well. Fear. She gasped, causing Dead Master to turn around and advance towards her. She looked at the portal then looked up at Mato and said "She came for her, didn't she?" Yuu looked at her with despair and gasped. How could it be? How had Strength come back? Did this mean she had to go back to the real world? No, this couldn't be happening! With one last look at the opened portal and at Dead Master, she ran out the classroom with no destination in mind.

Meanwhile, in another side of the Realm, Rock was roaming around in her motorcycle. She was mad. She didn't care what the rules about feelings were, she was angry and didn't care who knew. She felt betrayed by Mato. How could she have come to such a place just for that idiot of Dead Master and her soul mate? Just as she thought of her, she realized she had arrived right in front of Dead's house. She could tell it was hers because of all the green skulls roaming around. She got off the motorcycle and slashed all the skulls she could with her scythe. Soon after, she heard a cold laugh. Dead Master was sitting on a throne at the front of the mini-castle she called home. "You're not taking Yomi. Don't care what she wants, you're not going to mess with MY little bird so don't even try to come near me or my house" Said Dead Master as she glared at Rock. Rock did not answer but instead started running full speed towards her. Dead Master rolled her eyes and sent some glowing green skulls towards Rock. Rock slashed them easily but suddenly a chain was thrown in her direction and she found herself against a rock unable to move. Dead Master walked towards her as she sent flying skulls towards Rock. The skulls continued to hit Rock's body but she never stopped looking at Dead Master in the eyes. By the time Dead Master got to Rock and had stopped sending the skulls, Rock's body was bruised and bleeding. Dead Master smiled at the scene and attacked her with her own weapons. Rock struggled to get out and suddenly, she was able to move. The chains had come off and she attacked Dead Master with all the force she could. Just as she was going to slash her with her scythe, a feeling overwhelmed her and she heard Mato's voice again. This time, it was coming from above. Rock looked at Mato, her face expressionless as she saw the little capsule containing her dissolve. Rock let out a growl and went away in her motorcycle, holding a green skull with her and leaving Dead Master with a victorious grin on her face.

Inside of the capsule, Mato was struggling to reach Yomi, or at least, who she THOUGHT was Yomi. Mato could see Dead Master but she couldn't get to her. Suddenly, she heard a voice. "Mato! Don't go anywhere. This place is too dangerous for you! I made a mistake in taking you here, please just leave." The voice belonged to Strength, who Mato knew as Yuu. "Yuu? I can't get out- I'm- I'm trapped in here" she responded. "Mato, just don't mov-" Strength's voice was interrupted and suddenly Mato couldn't see Dead Master anymore. Now, she saw a black world with gray rocks everywhere. "Why did you come here?" she heard a voice ask. "I came here for Yomi." Answered Mato to the mysterious voice she thought was somewhat familiar. The voice growled a little before responding, "She's not here. The one you're looking for is Dead Master and I'm not letting you get near her." At the sound of this Mato got angry and shouted at the voice for a reply. "I'm not going to let you get hurt." Responded the voice. Mato started to cry a little and said "I'm tired of people getting hurt to protect me. I want to help others. I want my friend back! I don't care if I get hurt, I want to get hurt! I want to experience that pain too!" As she said this, her view became clearer and she realized she was out of the capsule. There was no one in sight but suddenly she heard a voice behind her that sent chills up her spine. "Then I'll hurt you."

The voice, which Matos had head before in her dreams, belonged to Rock. Mato turned around but there was no one there. She looked down at herself and saw she was now wearing a blue outfit and a black jacket. At her side was a weapon but she didn't understand what this was for. Suddenly she saw Rock and she shouted at her. "Who are you?! Why won't you let me get to Yomi?!" Rock did not answer immediately but instead pushed Mato's chest with the bottom part of her scythe. Blood came out of Mato's mouth as she fell down to the ground and felt a slash being made on her stomach. "I'm Black Rock Shooter. Guardian at the Realm of Death. I told you to leave, Yomi isn't here and I will not let you get to Dead Master. If you want to feel pain, I'll hurt you." Mato glared at her and decided to fight back, however, Rock was much stronger and didn't go easy on her. While the fight went on, Mato tried to convince Rock to let her go. "I want my friend back. If I must feel pain, then it's fine. I want to see all the colors of the heart like the little bird!" When she heard this, Rock sent chains at Mato and slashed her one more time before replying. "And you know what happened to the little bird when it felt everything? Do you know where it went after it felt pain?" Mato stayed on the ground, her eyes looked blank as she responded with a soft voice, "The little bird died". Hearing this, Rock left her on the ground and went away into a pink distance.

While she laid on the ground, Mato heard Strength's voice far away. However, Mato wasn't the only one who heard Strength's voice. Yuu had heard the voice too and decided to run towards her but to her misfortune, she had been roaming the wrong place at the wrong time. She had been walking and hiding inside of Chariot's house and encountered Rock as she tried to leave. Rock looked at her and she realized that Yuu was now a guardian too. She looked at Yuu and felt some pity at seeing her scared face understand what was about to happen. Rock didn't get off her motorcycle but instead went full speed towards Yuu on it. Yuu panicked and shot at Rock with her canons, missing her several times. It was just like back at the arena. The last shot that was fired, finally hit Rock, but it was too late. As Rock came out flying off the motorcycle, she sent her scythe towards Yuu, slashing her vest again. Just as Yuu was about to run away, Rock stood up again and another weapon appeared next to her. It was the canon she had used to shoot Dead Master, but it looked different. The light inside of it was not blue but rather a little green. Yuu stared at it a little bit closer and gasped as she saw a little green skull floating inside the canon. Thinking Rock had killed Dead Master and trapped her soul in the canon, Yuu started shooting at her again. This time however, Rock did not try to avoid any of the shots. Instead, she caught one of the bullets and put it in the machine. The canon did an odd revolving sound and there were now two beams of light floating inside of it. One green and one orange.

After Rock had collected the bullet, she let Yuu go and got on her motorcycle again. Yuu didn't waste time and ran full speed towards the place where she had last heard Strength's voice. As she ran away, the last thing she saw of Rock was her being crushed by a purple pink train that she knew belonged to Chariot. She knew she was getting closer to Strength since she could hear her thoughts louder and louder but she knew something was wrong. Something about the place where they were at didn't seem right. There was too much… light. When Yuu got to the place where the voice was coming from, she almost fainted. It was a volcano of orange light. She looked down at it and saw Strength falling down. Yuu screamed at her and wailed for a long time. Strength opened her eyes and looked at her as she continued to descend. "Don't worry Yuu. You'll be fine." She said as her face started to break apart with the orange light. Yuu watched as Strength kept breaking and was soon joined by Mato. Mato did not understand what was going on. She did not understand why Strength, who she knew as Yuu, was doing this. Yuu looked at Mato and screamed accusing her of this. Mato didn't know who the girl was nor what she meant but she listened. Suddenly there was a shaking of the ground where they stood and the orange light disappeared. There, at the bottom of the volcano, was Strength.

Mato and Yuu screamed in unison and went towards Strength's naked body. Mato pushed Yuu away and held Strength in her arms. "Yuu! Are you okay?! Why did you do this? What's going on?!" she asked in a panicked voice. Strength looked at her and smiled. "Mato, please call me by my name. My name is Strength, and I am a guardian at the Realm of Death." Mato looked at her in confusion. What was she talking about? Mato and Yuu had been friends since they were little! This couldn't be true. "Mato, remember the stories about the people who are in another world and protect us from suffering? They were real. This is them. This is their world, and I'm part of it." Mato stood there holding her while she processed this. At that moment, Yuu came back and looked at Strength. "Please don't make me go back. I can't do it. Please! I beg you!" she pleaded. "You'll be okay. I promise. You have friends now. Friends who will help you. You don't need me anymore."

The moment Strength uttered those words, the cubic world where they had been living became one. There was no longer many levels and dimensions where each guardian lived, it was now all connected in a linear structure. However, there was one wall separating each guardian and that could not be taken down. Not yet.

Mato still didn't fully understand how it all worked so she asked Strength, by her name, to please explain to her what she meant by being part of this world. "Our world and your world is connected by human suffering and our guardians. Those are the people of this world, and we protect the people from yours. Guardians are born when a person from your world goes through great suffering. After that first taste of pain, the guardian continues to battle for you and only you for the rest of your life. Every time your feelings get hurt, we battle the cause of it so that you don't have to do it and can be free of all emotions again. We do not have feelings and our only purpose is to make you happy. Even though you are born without a guardian, everybody gets one eventually. My soul mate is Yuu, who will be taking my spot when you go back to the normal world. Please take care of her. Your friend Yomi has a guardian as well. Her name is Dead Master, who is one of the best and oldest guardian since Yomi has been hurt since an early age. Then there's Chariot, who was the cause of Dead Master's birth and is Kagari's guardian. Your guardian, is Black Rock Shooter. Even if it looks very complicated and you don't understand it all, every single one of us is fighting for the happiness of our girls, and that is all that matters." Those were Strength's last words before she finished breaking apart and became grey ashes right before the girls' own eyes.

As Mato stayed kneeled on the ground where moments ago she had been holding Strength, a blue headed girl appeared on a motorcycle. The girl got off it and a weapon appeared next to her. Mato recognized her as Black Rock Shooter, and wondered if she was there to kill her, or send her back to her world. What the girl really did, surprised both, her and Yuu. Rock walked up to them, holding her canon with one hand and getting the gray ashes with the other. Yuu looked at the canon and noticed that now there weren't only two lights inside of it but rather a whole rainbow of color. A red spike, a green skull, an orange bullet, a blue ball, a purple doll, and now as she put the ashes in, a yellow sun. The girl pointed her canon and Yuu ducked on reflex, thinking she was aiming at her. However, Mato stayed standing and watched as Rock pointed the canon at something she had just noticed- the wall. The canon mixed all the colors together yet, the light that came out of it was not black but rather white. Rock looked at Mato and said "If the bird can understand the colors of its wings, then it can fly again. Colors are life." After she said this, the canon was fired and a hole was made on the wall. The light that was fired from it was so strong, it made a hole through all the walls in the Realm of Death. Suddenly, all of the territories where connected. Not only where they now in a linear form but also, had access to each one. All of the guardians, were now one. Mato looked up to speak to Rock but Rock was gone. She looked around and catch a glimpse of her as she jumped down a cliff. Mato was about to run after her when she felt a cold hand touch her shoulder.

What Mato saw was nothing like she had ever seen. Standing in front of her, were four guardians. Black Gold Saw, Chariot, Yuu, and Dead Master all stood in a line, looking at her. Dead Master, who had been the one to touch her shoulder, spoke "Let her go. She's your guardian, not your friend. She doesn't have feelings, you must not worry for her. I'm Yomi's guardian and you're the cause of her pain. I defeated Rock some time ago to get Yomi rid of all the pain you've caused her, but you must be really special to her." She said with a cold voice to Mato, who looked at her with sorry written all over her. She had never meant to hurt Yomi, but she knew it was true. She saw her painting, she had broken Yomi. However, Dead Master wasn't finished. "You must be very special to Yomi. When a guardian wins a battle, their soul mate forgets all about the person or thing that caused the pain. However, she remembered you today. She could feel the pain in her heart forming again, but she didn't care. She chose to feel pain just to remember you. I should kill you for that but it would hurt Yomi more than what you hurt her now. We'll send you back to your world but if you make her suffer one more time, I will be here and I WILL destroy Black Rock Shooter every time that I need." After saying the last statement, Dead Master smiled and told Yuu to hold hands with Mato. Yuu obeyed and closed her eyes. Mato kept hers opened and watched as their world started to dissolve until she was no longer able to see it. Instead, she saw a white light above from her and realized she was in the room where she had fallen asleep. She looked around and saw that next to her was Yuu, still asleep and holding her hand.

Mato got up and said good-bye to Saya-san before leaving. She was on her way home thinking of a good excuse to tell her mom for why she was out so late. She still had her gym uniform on from school so she decided to just tell her she had stayed for basketball practice. When she was a block away from her house she heard a voice screaming her name. She turned around just in time to see Yomi gasping for air with her hands on her knees. "Mato! I – I've been looking for you everywhere! Where have you been? I'm sorry I hurt you! I- I just- I'm really sorry! And I don't know how to say this and" before Yomi could finish her sentence, Mato ran to her and gave her hug. Yomi stood there speechless as she heard Mato cry and then say "I'm sorry I hurt you too. I really am but I don't want to hurt anyone else either so I want to share your pain. We can be in pain together and share all the colors of the heart together. Please let me share all of those feelings with you." Yomi smiled and hugged Mato back before giggling and saying "Mato, you sound like a little kid!" this caused Mato to laugh as well and they both walked home together giggling the whole time.

The next day at school, Yuu was introduced as a new student. Yuu was really scared at first but as soon as she entered the classroom, Mato and Yomi smiled and waved at her. Yuu smiled back and took a seat. Later, Yomi, Mato, Yuu, and Kagari went up to the roof of the school and had lunch while talking about all the things that had been going on in their life and enjoying the time they spent together. Yomi gave everyone a bracelet that she had made: she gave Mato a blue one, Yuu an orange one, and Kagari a pink one. They all smiled and looked at Mato as she said "now that we're all friends, I want us all to share all of our feelings and go through things together! I want us all to feel all colors of the rainbow" after she said this, they all raised their hand in unison and pointed at the sky in symbol of their friendship. They no longer needed the warriors in the other world, now they had each other.

That night, the four girls went to bed each in their own house and slept peacefully. They noticed they hadn't had dreams about the other world, which they often had because they were portals (even if they didn't know this), but they didn't pay much attention. A week passed by and Mato really started to get worried. She always had a dream about the other world at least once a week. If what Strength had told her was true, then why couldn't she open the portal? Why couldn't she see the other world? For a moment, she remembered the last thing she saw was Rock jumping off a cliff and wondered if she had died. She asked everyone else if they had had any dreams lately but they all said no. She went to Saya-san and asked her if she knew anything about this and why it was happening but she shook her head and said she hadn't seen Black Gold Saw in about a week. She couldn't understand why but the truth was, the other world no longer existed.


	3. Mortal Warriors

The battles in the Realm had ended- along with the purpose of any of its inhabitants. They had no human soul mate to protect and were now in a world of nothing. Everywhere they looked- nothing. The group of warriors kept walking towards nothing in particular and wondered what they were supposed to do. Rock and Dead Master had no reason to fight anymore but still felt like chocking each other. At least that's how Rock felt anyway. Unfortunately for them, their weapons had disappeared too. As they kept on walking, they suddenly came across a portal. It was Black Gold Saw's portal. They wondered why she had opened it when they suddenly noticed that was left of their world was starting to collapse. "Go through it. I'll keep it open long enough for all of you to get to the other side." Said Black Gold Saw in a calm voice. Dead Master didn't hesitate or question her and went through it first, followed by Chariot and Rock. Before Rock had gone through the portal, she had had a chance to vaguely recognize the world into which they were going. She had seen that world many times before after all.

Rock looked down at her feet and noticed she was standing on green grass. She glared at the grass and then at Dead Master, thinking it belonged to her and was some sort of trap she had put there. "Well you're pathetic. I just got to this new world and you already set a trap for me?" Rock said to Dead. Dead raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes before pointing a bony finger up. "Oh, I'M pathetic? Then explain the sky. Why is it blue? Did YOU set a trap for us too?" she asked with bored eyes. Rock looked up and saw that Dead was right. The sky WAS blue, but… she hadn't done anything to it. Rock tried to control it or do something with it but the sky wouldn't do anything it wasn't already supposed to do. Rock's eyebrows collided in irritation to form a frown as she turned around and looked at Black Gold Saw for an explanation. BGS looked at the two girls and started explaining to them about the human world. She explained that this world was full of color rather than grey as their previous world had been, that they now had human properties and characteristics so they couldn't control things of their color or summon their weapons, and most importantly, death wasn't temporary. After having said so, she simply turned around and walked away. Rock stood open mouthed in shock for a few seconds before realizing everyone else was leaving. She was very confused as to what she should do now but then remembered: Mato was in this world. Maybe she could help her. Rock ran several blocks but then realized she was tired. "What is this? Why are my legs in pain? What is this strange form of breathing? Am I dying!?" she wondered in panic. She decided to sit down for a little bit but only got to enjoy that for a few minutes before a lady came and asked her if she needed any help. Rock shook her head and ran away. As she kept running she noticed a crowd of people around a building. They were all dressed alike and she wondered if Mato would be there. Before having a chance of looking for her she heard a loud gasp that she recognized a little too well. Behind her stood Yuu.

Yuu's eyes were the size of two Suns and her mouth hung open. Rock simply stood still and tilted her head a bit to the left before saying hello. "Mato, why are you in cosplay?" asked Yuu. Rock's eyebrows came together in confusion but as she looked around she also noticed that everyone there had been staring at her since her arrival. She didn't understand why they were staring nor why Yuu was calling her Mato but before she could ask Yuu anything, she took her by the arm and between a fake laugh managed to say "Oh Mato, you're so crazy" before taking her away from the school. Once they were alone, Yuu stopped holding Rock's arm and asked "Rock, what's going on? Why are you here?" Rock told her about the Realm and the portal and how they were all humans now until a new Realm was created and how she couldn't die in this world but was sure she almost did when she ran to the school. Yuu let out a sigh and explained to her that she was just tired, not dying. She shook her head while she smiled. "So that's it? Wow. I thought you guys were here to take me back or something. Though I guess that wouldn't really make sense. Well, you can't really go in there looking like that! How long are you staying here?" she asked. Rock told her she didn't know but it could vary from a few months to several years. "Well, we could have you enroll in our school if you want. You know, just to kill some time and so that you are able to understand humans a bit more." Suggested Yuu while also glancing at her watch. Rock shrugged and agreed since she really didn't have anything else to do and she had always wanted to understand Mato and the rest of the human population a bit more. Especially those things they called emotions that were the pure source of their existence. Yuu asked Rock if she knew where the others were but sadly Rock was only able to shake her head since she didn't know where on earth they were. Yuu glanced at her watch again before telling Rock to look for them and meet her there at the school when she had found them since she had to go to class. Rock nodded and watched as Yuu ran towards the school and wondered if Yuu could fight in this school or if she was still the timid student she was before.

With a long sigh, Rock stood up and decided to start looking for Chariot and Dead Master. It shouldn't be too hard, right? After all, they were wearing what Yuu had called "Cosplay clothes" and Dead Master liked being the center of attention so she wouldn't be hard to find. Rock went and looked for them around the school, in parks, stores, and abandoned buildings but she simply couldn't find them. Rock decided to just go back to the school and hope they would show up there or at least ask Yuu to help so that they could search together. However, before Rock got to the school she saw a really big clothing store that she couldn't believe she had missed before. She doubted they would be there but decided to check anyways since she had time to spare. There seemed to be clothes and mirrors everywhere! As she walked around looking at all the weird human clothes, a lady quickly rushed to her and asked if she needed any help. Rock found it weird since this was the second time a lady asked her that question out of nowhere. Rock shook her head and expected for her to leave but the lady stayed where she was looking a bit nervous. "Um, mam. I don't mean to be rude but, are you by any chance part of a new show?" she asked looking uncomfortable. Rock looked at her in confusion but remembered what Yuu had told her about her clothes so she responded with "Uh, yes! I am cosplaying. Yes. Why do you ask" they lady looked relieved and told her it was a really nice cosplay and that it explained a lot of stuff since there were two other cosplayers in the back. Rock's eyes lit up and she asked the lady if she could take her to them. The lady nodded and took her to the back of the store. Rock face palmed herself upon seeing Dead Master and Chariot. The scene was just as anyone would expect it to be. Dead Master had four ladies holding clothes for her while two others looked for more, all while Chariot sat on a stool looking uninterested. Rock shook her head and asked the lady if she knew what time it was. The lady responded with 5:27 pm. Rock thanked her and sprinted out of the store towards the school. She found Yuu standing outside the building constantly looking at her watch. She looked around and asked Rock if the rest were on their way but Rock simply told her to follow her. When they got to the store, there was no one to greet them but instead there were several ladies running around looking for clothes. Rock took Yuu to the back of the room where more ladies holding clothes had gathered. Yuu asked Rock what was going on but Rock didn't need to answer as Yuu noticed Chariot sitting on a stool and Dead Master being at the center of all the ladies. "Well I guess it's good we're here. I was going to take you guys shopping for clothes anyways so we might as well do it now." Said Yuu. Rock asked what she meant by that and Yuu explained that she just needed to choose some nice clothes and try it on so they could pay for it and leave. A concept that Dead Master had halfway gotten since she just kept on trying on new clothes without buying any or leaving the store either.

By the time the girls had left the store it was dark outside and they were each carrying at least three bags. Yuu suggested they looked for BGS but the warriors wanted to find their soul mates instead. Yuu questioned whether this was a good idea or not. Mato and Rock had previously met each other but the other two only had a small idea of what the warriors were like. "Why don't we do that tomorrow? I'm afraid if we go to them now we might disturb them as it is already late." She said trying to give a good excuse for them to keep stay away from the girls for now. "Well, if Dead Master hadn't decided to buy half the store we might have gotten out earlier and had time to find them" Rock murmured beneath her breath just loud enough for Dead Master to hear. Dead rolled her eyes and let out a sigh before explaining how it was important to have a variety of clothes to choose from. Rock stared at her and reminded her that back when they had been at the Realm, their world had been in grey and they wore the same outfit every day. To this remark, Dead simply responded by saying that this was a different world and therefore different rules existed. The same outfit each day simply wasn't going to cut it.

The warriors and Yuu continued their search for BGS but could not find her anywhere. Chariot suggested that she might have gone with Saya, her soul mate, since they had a close bond and understanding of both worlds. They all seemed to agree with her and Yuu invited them all to stay at her place for the night. She lived alone and having company over seemed strange but also comforting. Rock insisted they didn't need sleep and could keep looking for BGS but Yuu reminded her that she was now mortal and needed to rest. Reluctantly, Rock accepted defeat and fell asleep on the floor in Yuu's living room. The other two warriors took more comfortable spots, Chariot taking the couch and Dead Master taking the air mattress Yuu had for sleepovers.

Rock awoke with a start when she caught the smell of something she had never smelt before. She looked around and saw Chariot sleeping next to her (she had fallen off the couch half way through the night). Startled, she got up and tried to follow the smell that had awoken her. When she found the source to be Yuu cooking in the kitchen she remembered all of the events of the previous day and came to a sudden realization that her stomach was doing a weird noise and her mouth felt dry. "Oh you're up! I was just about to get you guys. I was just making some breakfast so we can eat something before going to school." Yuu explained to Rock. School. Rock had forgotten she had agreed on enrolling to this place and wondered if the other two warriors were going to be attending too. Soon after, Chariot and Dead Master showed up at the table and joined them for breakfast. Rock couldn't help but laugh a bit at the sight of Dead Master's hair sticking out at weird angles and her porcelain face having what seemed to be drool on part of her cheek. Dead Master glared at Rock but smiled at Yuu and thanked her for the food. Chariot declined and said she was going to get dressed since they all still had the "cosplay" from yesterday. The other two warriors quickly ate their breakfast and went to change themselves. Chariot, Dead, and Rock all stood in one room with bags and bags of clothes trying to figure out what they were going to wear. Rock reached for a pair of shorts that were in one of the bags but Dead Master blocked her hand from reaching it. "Um, those are mine." She said looking bored with a hint of annoyance. Rock gave her a look and reached for another bag to look for more clothes only to have the same thing happened. She gave a sigh and stared at the fellow warrior, "Dead. They're mostly YOUR clothes. We only got to pick a few items. You said you were getting clothes for all of us, I thought we had all agreed to share our clothes." Dead Master seemed to consider this and threw the bag at Rock and adding that she should be thankful she had good taste in clothes. Rock smirked and went through the clothes, settling for a pair of black jeans, a white shirt, and her boots. Chariot had chosen a pink dress with matching shoes and a ribbon on her hair that Yuu had offered. The two warriors waited with Yuu in the kitchen until Dead Master finally got out of the room wearing a black skirt, a white button down shirt, and high heels. "Took you that long to pick out that outfit?" Rock complained although she had to admit Dead did look pretty nice. Maybe even cute.


	4. Soul Exchange Program

The bell rang and the four girls entered the school. Immediately everyone turned and stared at them as they still stood out since they were not in uniform and looked familiar yet different. Yuu led them to the principal's office where they expected to see BGS but instead were met with just a mortal woman. Yuu explained to them that Saya was only the school's counselor rather than the principal and helped them fill out their enrollment packets. "Black Gold Saw's soul mate isn't the headmaster at this school? Why?" asked Chariot in confusion. Yuu explained that since their world and they had been created through human emotions, it was the only way that Saya could make sure everything was all right. In a way, she was the headmaster of the feelings department at the school.

After filling out their forms, the girls started their way to Saya's office. To nobody's surprise, Black Gold Saw was sitting next to her when they walked in. "Good to see you girls. Would you like some coffee?" offered Saya already serving them a cup. The girls sat in the couch in front of BGS in silence. They had been wanting to find her but now that they were in front of her, they didn't know what to do. "Are we allowed to talk to our soul mates?" Rock asked. BGS nodded and said "We are no longer their soul mates. We are now mortal until the next portal opens up. You can talk to whoever you want but remember to act like one of them. You can't summon your weapons and you can die permanently and get hurt so be careful." The girls nodded in response and left the room to go to class. Once the girls had left, BGS turned to Saya. "Why do you always offer them coffee?" she asked. Saya smiled and simply said "Honey, we both know it's not just coffee."

The class had just begun when the professor informed the students about their new classmates. Everyone tried to look out the door to see who the new kids were but were surprised when they saw Yuu. "Sorry, I just brought them. I'm not new." Yuu joked and went to her seat. The class shared a chuckle and looked at the teacher expectantly for him to introduce the new students. "Well class, we seem to have three new girls on campus. Please let them feel welcome. You may come in." he said and the three former warriors walked in. The class gasped and Mato held her breath. They all turned to look at Mato, Yomi, and Kagari, looking at how much they looked alike. "Good morning. My name is Bla- I mean… Aozora Ren. It's nice to meet you." Rock bowed at the class. They nodded in response and looked at the other two. "My name is Oshiro Akemi. Pleasure to meet you." Dead Master told the class followed by Chariot introducing herself as "Sonoda Emi". The class welcomed them and the girls sat at the back of the room where the empty seats were. None of them felt like they belonged there due to them knowing their true nature and also because they noticed everyone had uniform on…something that made them stand out even more than they already did. Despite their awkwardness in the classroom, Rock couldn't help but smile as she looked at the back of Mato's head and knew that they were both in the same world and that maybe she could continue to protect her here. She noticed Yomi was sitting next to her and glared but stopped when the girl smiled at her shyly. Even though Yomi was Dead Master's soul mate, she didn't seem to be as annoying and stuck up. Maybe they could be friends.

"Stay away from Yomi." Dead Master threatened Rock during their lunch time. "What are you talking about?" Rock asked her, trying to look for Mato in the cafeteria. "I saw you staring at her form your desk. I'm telling you this now, stay away from her. She's not your soul mate and I don't care if we can't summon our weapons here, if you hurt her I will kill you. This time for good." With those last words Dead Master stormed off looking for Yomi, leaving Rock alone to look for Mato. After what seemed like eternity, Rock finally found Mato talking with Yomi, Kagari, Yuu and Chariot. When Yuu spotted her, she waved for her to join them. Rock walked towards them with awkwardness but managed to say hi to the girls. Mato smiled at her, making Rock feel a bit better but that feeling didn't last very long as Dead Master soon joined them. "Why are we standing?" she asked with a hint of annoyance that seemed to never leave her voice. "We were just going to head outside to eat our lunch. We don't usually eat in the cafeteria when the weather is so nice" explained Mato. Dead Master glanced at her, then at Rock, and finally at Yomi. She seemed to agree with Mato so Dead Master followed them outside. "Why are you guys here? I haven't seen you in my dreams for weeks! I thought you… um… I thought… you had died!" exclaimed Mato, who seemed to be the leader of the group and the conversation. Rock was about to explain to her what had happened in the Realm when her stomach suddenly made a weird rumbling noise. She looked down at herself in horror thinking she was dying again but the girls laughed and explained that she was just hungry. "Lucky for all of you, I packed you lunch." Yuu told them and gave them each a bento box full of yummy food. Rock thanked her and continued trying to explain how their world had been destroyed after she blasted the rainbow cannon. Mato nodded grimly remembering the fight she had witnessed in the other world. "So what are you gonna do now?" Kagari asked the warriors. "Well, I'm hoping Black Gold Saw and Saya-san can open a new portal to a similar world but if they can't then I guess we'll just stay here." Responded Chariot trying not to make it obvious she had been staring at Kagari the whole time. "And protect you" she added in her head but didn't say out loud.

By the time lunch was over, the warriors felt much more at ease and a bit happy since they had gotten to finally talk to their soul mates. Soul mates. Right, they weren't soul mates anymore but, what were they now? They still shared some type of bond and their appearance was quite similar. The girls went back to class together but at the end of school, some girls pulled the new girls away. "So where are you guys from?" one of the girls asked Rock and Dead Master. "The Realm." Answered Dead Master plainly. Puzzled looks followed her response but no more questions were asked. "Nice going trying to blend in." Rock whispered to Dead as they tried to find their friends. "Like you could do any better." Dead replied rolling her eyes. By the time the two frenemies had found their friends there was a deadly silence between the two. "What happened?" Yomi asked the two girls. "Nothing, just girls trying to know who we are." Replied Dead Master in a much nicer tone than the one she used with Rock. Yomi nodded and asked where it was that they were staying at. Yuu informed her that they were staying at her house temporarily until they figured out what they were going to do. The girls nodded and Yomi offered to have dinner at her house.

Yomi's house was nothing like Dead Master's castle. She had moved to a different house a few months back and this new house was average size and looked just like all the other ones on the block. Rock looked at Dead Master to see what her reaction was, expecting to see disgust in her face at how low her 'soul mate' was living but instead saw that Dead Master was smiling. Rock raised an eyebrow but dismissed it. Dead Master didn't act the same around Yomi as she did with everyone else. The rules she had didn't apply to her. Yomi served them dinner and the girls talked about what their days had been like. "Are you sure it's okay for them all to stay at your house, Yuu? We could all have them sleep over if you want. You guys are like our sisters and protectors, the least we can do is return the favor. After all, it is our fault that your world was destroyed…" Mato said a bit uncomfortable but friendly. Rock looked up at her and smiled. Maybe she could stay at Mato's house. That would be nice, after all, what she wanted most was to get to know her more and make her happy. To be her friend. "I'm afraid your parents would ask too many questions if we were to do that. They kinda look like you guys…." Yuu said looking around the room. She could tell everyone was disappointed at this but also that they knew she was right. But maybe, they could use their physical similarities to their advantage. "What if each one of the warriors stays with a different person rather than their, uh, what did you call it? Uh, soul mate! Yeah, they stay with someone other than their soul mate." Exclaimed Mato. Rock's smile faded and she looked across the room to Dead Master. They both had the same idea: there was NO WAY that they would stay with the other's soul mate. "I think that's a great idea Mato! I feel like each warrior is a part of us too so maybe by staying with someone else's warrior we could not only make _new _friends but also become _better _friends with each other!" added Yomi. Dead and Rock both gulped. Neither one of them dared to disagree with the girls but also didn't want to leave their soul mate with their sworn enemy. "Well I guess we could do that but I can't have people over. Sorry, my uncle came to visit for the whole month and he's using the only other spare room we have in the house." Explained Kagari to the relief of Chariot. She would have loved to stay over at her house but since she couldn't, she was glad that nobody else would stay with her instead. "Then I guess Rock will go with Yomi, Dead Master will go with Mato, and Chariot will stay with me." Yuu told the girls in a final tone. All of the girls agreed and continued eating, without noticing the now absent Dead Master and Rock.

"You better not try to do anything to my little bird. If I find out you even thought about doing something to her, I will kill you. And we both know you can't come back once you die here." Threatened Dead Master. Rock glared at her with disgust. "You think I'm gonna do anything to her? As much as I hate you, I know that if I did anything to her you wouldn't stop until Mato was dead. But the warning goes back to you, Dumb Master. You do anything to Mato and I won't even bother hunting you down. I will just get rid of your precious bird." Dead Master glared back not wanting to admit defeat. Neither one of them had the upper hand in this situation, they were both tied down to acting civilized because of their 'soul mates'. After a millennium of glaring back and forth, Dead Master sighed and extended her hand. "Fine. Let's agree to be good to each other's soul mate for their sake. Agreed?" Rock shook her ex-opponent's hand in agreement, however just as she did, Dead Master pulled her in and warned her against ever making fun of her name again, and causing Rock to grin as she saw that her small joke had worked.


	5. Realm of Sleep Overs

"Welcome home, Dead Master." Grinned Mato. Dead looked around what appeared to be the living room as Mato explained to her parents that 'Yomi' would be staying with them for a while and if that would be okay with them. Her parents seemed delighted to have her around since they knew how good friends they were but reminded Mato that she needed to keep her room clean and still help out around the house even if she had a guest. _Especially_because she had a guest. Mato grabbed Dead Master's hand and pulled her towards her room where they would be sleeping. Dead's first instinct was to karate chop Mato's arm away but remembered this wasn't Black Rock Shooter and she couldn't hurt Mato. "Where are you going to sleep?" Dead asked the human girl as she had taken over Mato's bed. Mato scratched her head, she hadn't really planned this ahead. She grabbed some blankets out of her closet and a mattress they kept for when the **real **Yomi came over. Usually they both slept on the mattress but she guessed this wouldn't be the case. "So how is it? In the other world? I only went there once and didn't really get to see much. Yuu won't talk much about it and we don't really want to push her to it." Mato was full of curiosity and had been hoping that Dead Master or one of the others would be able to talk to her about it. Dead Master raised an eyebrow when she heard Mato's question. What was it like? Did she want to know what the place looked like, how it worked, or what she did? "It's… the same as here. There's a school, there's people, and we all have our own homes. The only difference is that we all have a weapon and a color that we control. Well, more like the weapons and things we make are of that color, we don't really control colors. But everything else is the same." Mato nodded and smiled. "That's good. Guess you won't have too much trouble fitting in at school then." Dead went still. They had already gone to school the previous day but she had to admit, this school was different. At least as far as she could see. Back at The Realm, she had been able to intimidate her way to the top of the school as nobody would go against her but here, how would she do that if she didn't have her weapons? She didn't even know anyone there besides the girls. "Dead Master?" Mato asked Dead waving her hand in front of her. Dead realized Mato had been talking during the time she had spaced out. "Sorry, I guess you must be tired. Um, well good night!" she said as she turned the lights off and left Dead Master to plan how she would rise to the top in this world.

In Yomi's house, everything was quiet. Yomi asked if 'Mato' could stay over for some time, not really having to make up an excuse or explanation as to why as her mother immediately said yes. Yomi smiled and offered Rock the room where Kagari had stayed when they first moved in. "It still has some of her old stuff in there but I don't think she would mind if you slept there." Rock accepted the offer and put her bags in the room. "Can I ask you a question?" they both asked at the same time and giggled afterwards. "You go first." Yomi insisted. Rock smiled and asked her question. What was life like in this world? "Well, it's very different from your world as far as I know. Mato told me the only time she went there everyone was fighting and Yuu won't talk about it. In our world, we don't really have fights although we do argue once in a while. I think you'll like it here." Rock nodded and tried to think of what Mato thought of The Realm. How did she see her? When Mato had gone to Rock's world, Rock had tried to kill her! When Rock remembered this (which she had been trying to forget since the day it happened), she rolled around in her bed. Yomi looked at her in confusion and asked if everything was alright. Rock waved it off not wanting to worry Yomi. She didn't know if there was still some type of link between her and Dead Master and the least thing she needed right now was for Dead Master to think she was trying to hurt Yomi. The girl and the warrior said good night to each other but neither of them went to sleep. Yomi laid in her room that night wondering what it must be like for Rock and the others in the Realm while Rock paced around hers trying to shake away the memory of hurting Mato.

"How do you think the girls are doing?" Yuu asked Chariot. The warrior shrugged, never wanting to speak more than necessary. Yuu tilted her head to look at Chariot's face better. "Is something wrong?" she asked, seeing that Chariot looked a bit… dead inside. "No." was her reply. Yuu frowned. She knew warriors weren't supposed to have feelings but they were no longer in that other world and even then, the warriors always felt something, even if it was only a little and they pretended not to feel it. "Chariot, you don't have to control your feelings here. In this world, we talk about things so that we can feel better and it actually works! You can talk to me if you want." Chariot looked at her with a bored expression. "I don't feel anything." Yuu sighed but then realized Chariot's voice sounded sincere and her face looked sad. Could that be true? "What do you mean?" she asked the warrior. "I've seen this world through the portal. Humans feel so much, and I thought that once I was here I would feel something too but, it seems I don't. We might be in this world now but we don't belong here. None of us do, just like you didn't belong in ours." Yuu felt like she had been punched directly in the stomach when she heard the last remark. It was true, she had never really belonged at The Realm but that was how SHE had felt towards the place. Did everyone there also feel like that towards her? Chariot noticed the look on Yuu's face and realized what her words had just done. "I'm sorry." Chariot said a bit monotone. Yuu nodded, taking the apology, and went to sleep with the same feeling she used to have when she was younger. The feeling that she didn't belong.


	6. Our New Realm

Weeks had passed since the warriors had first arrived to the human world. Black Rock Shooter and Yomi had become really good friends and seemed to spend more time together than with Dead Master and Mato. The other two didn't seem to mind though, as they too had become friends but their bond was not as tight as the one that Rock and Yomi shared. Kagari and Chariot had not really gotten any closer than when they had first met and Yuu seemed to have taken Chariot as her own little project. The word "project" seemed a little out of place, but she had made it her task to make Chariot feel something. The warriors had taken semi-permanent residence with Yomi and Mato so Chariot always stayed with Yuu in her small home. Yuu tried to get her involved in school clubs or make new friends but Chariot refused all of it. All she wanted was Kagari. "She doesn't seem to need me." Chariot pointed out to Yuu one evening while they were doing their homework at home. Even if they were no longer soul mates, Chariot still wanted to bring Kagari happiness, although it seemed Kagari was happier with her other friends than her. "You can still make sure she doesn't go through pain. Kagari is a bit different from us and takes longer to warm up to people. You may have known her your whole life and have cared for her but she doesn't really know you." was the only explanation Yuu could give her. Kagari always responded in the same way, a long sigh and continuing with whatever it was she was doing. Even if Kagari didn't seem to be making any real attempt at befriending Chariot, Yuu would not give up. She would not let her feel what she had felt for so long and spent years running away from.

"Hey Dead, are you busy this weekend?" a girl from homeroom asked. Even though they had all made fake names at the beginning of their stay, they had convinced the other girls to call them by their names with the excuse that it was just a nickname. Dead answered in the negative, knowing the next step for the human was to invite her somewhere. She had learned some of the girl's protocols and was still working her way to the top of the school, so far succeeding at it. As predicted, the girl proceeded to invite Dead Master to a birthday party they were having at one of her friend's house. Dead pretended not to care much for it (as she had learned from other girls) but then smiled warmly and admitted she'd love to go. That was her strategy to making it to the top. She was good at reading people's feelings and manipulated them to her advantage. First she would let them feel like they were not really much of interest to her, lowering their self-confidence and then letting them know that even if this was true, she was still happy to be around them making them happy in the process. It was like stealing from them and then giving it back as a gift. She was very good at doing this to everyone except for two people- Yomi and Black Rock Shooter. She would never try to cause anything other than joy towards Yomi and Rock never seemed to show any emotions, be it good or bad, towards Dead. This last part made Dead Master uncomfortable. It was hard to say, but she seemed to miss the days when Rock would glare at her from across the room and try to pick a fight with her on the hallways. She knew this was due to the peace treaty they had made when they first got there but also because Rock had become good friends with Yoni, a friendship that did not go well in Dead's book. A friendship that she considered to be a bit dangerous and a betrayal from Yomi's part. Why would she ever befriend the one who had caused her so much pain?

The weekend came around and Dead decided to go to Yuu's house to get a new outfit for the party. "Rock?" the ex-warrior asked upon entering the room they had all shared for clothes at Yuu's house. Rock looked at her with some embarrassment but relief as she was glad she had finished changing before Dead Master had decided to walk in. "What?" replied Rock as she looked for a pair of shoes to match the white dress she was wearing. Dead didn't respond and instead started to look through the clothes herself to see if she could find anything good. "You're going to Miku's party too?" Rock asked Dead Master as she tied the laces of a pair of combat boots she had picked. Dead simply nodded as she took out a black dress with a green ribbon near the middle. She didn't know Rock had also been invited to the party but partially didn't care. It wasn't like it made a difference. The girls wouldn't be there and they themselves had no real connection besides them. Rock finished putting her outfit together and Dead assumed she was heading towards the door but to her surprise, Rock stopped right in front of her. Dead Master looked at her old enemy and noticed she looked a bit flustered. "I found this at the store the other day. I thought you might want to wear it, I think it'll look nice." She said as she handed Dead a necklace with a green skull and walked out the door. Dead stood speechless looking at the necklace before smiling and putting it on. Maybe her friendship with Yomi had made her a bit softer. A softness that could lead to weakness and a new form of victory for Dead Master. If Rock actually had some feelings towards her, be it good or bad, then Dead could use them to her advantage just like she did with everybody else.


	7. Party Souls

When Dead Master arrived at the party, most people were already there and were either dancing or sitting down in a couch talking to their friends. She tried not to feel awkward as she walked in but felt a bit out of her element as nobody seemed to pay any attention to her. Dead rolled her eyes at the people and continued to walk around the house trying to find someone familiar or worth her time but to her disappointment and surprise most of the people there were either too preoccupied with their friends or were too into the party doing weird movements with their bodies for her to actually want to engage in any kind of interaction. She wondered into the backyard hoping to have better luck there only a few minutes after her arrival. There was a pool outside and she noticed that some of the girls from her class were swimming inside of it but she didn't really want to swim. The girls invited her to swim but she quickly declined as she hadn't brought clothes and hadn't mastered the skill yet. The girls nodded and continued to happily swim on their own as Dead Master watched with curious eyes. She didn't understand what was so fun about swimming, all they were doing was using up energy trying to stay afloat and not drown. She could see the skill being important in a combat situation but these girls were only doing it for "fun" so it was really just a stupid waste of energy. "Pointless huh?" a voice said behind her. Dead turned around to face Black Rock Shooter drinking a soda with a board expression. Dead shrugged and turned back around carelessly. Should she engage in a conversation with Rock? They hadn't really had a proper conversation since the day of the agreement and had nothing in common ground to talk about but neither one of them really knew what was going on or had other people to talk to. Dead decided to not start the conversation with Rock but wait for her to do it instead as social norms stated that whoever started the conversation was interested in talking to the other person and therefor inferior to them. Rock wasn't aware of this as she had never really cared about social norms and expectations and had nobody to talk to so she walked closer to Dead Master and started the chat.

"Are you liking the party so far?"

"Not really. It's quite boring and people are acting strange. Even for humans."

"Yeah. Yomi advised me against coming here but I wanted to see it for myself. Guess I'll have to admit defeat this time."

"Huh. I didn't ask Mato about the party. You seem to be getting close to Yomi."

"Yeah. After getting over the fact that she wasn't anything like you, I was able to see why Mato likes her so much. She's really nice and helps me with all the human stuff I don't understand."

…"Nothing like me?"

"Well, yeah. Look, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you, I'm just saying that well, you and I have never really gotten along and Yomi and I do. She said it's probably because we have never gotten to know each other but, the Dead Master I know from the Realm is nothing like the nice Yomi I know."

Dead Master thought about this for a second as she nodded and smiled at Rock. She was right when she said that Yomi and the warrior were nothing alike as Yomi was at the bottom of the food chain and felt things towards people while Dead Master was at the top with nothing to feel but pity for others. Rock didn't seem to have become friendlier and softer towards Dead as she had initially thought but rather had become tolerant of her for Yomi's sake. It appeared that the only feelings Rock had for Dead Master were that of uncertainty. Yomi was trying to get Rock to become friends with Dead Master but Rock knew the real her and wanted nothing to do with it. She knew Dead Master was a narcissist jerk who used people to get what she wanted but also felt like she should listen to Yomi. Rock's wish of one day being able to feel something more than rage had become true as she was finally getting to experience more colors of the heart, however there were a few she still hadn't been able to feel. Would Dead Master be able to cause those feelings? Some of the feelings were good and some were bad so there was a good chance that she would at least cause one of them. Rock looked at Dead Master and saw she was wearing the skull necklace she had given her. "You wore it." She said pointing at it. Dead glanced down at the necklace and shrugged "It's useless but it looks nice. I would prefer my actual skulls though." Rock nodded awkwardly. The conversation had not gone the route she had hoped for so she tried again. "Yeah, a lot of human things are useless but some are really fun. Have you ever gone on a roller coaster?" Dead's eyebrows united in question. She had never heard of such a thing. "They're these big machines that humans get on to feel a rush of adrenaline. It scares them and they feel like they're going to die but they like it. Can you believe it?! Yomi told me about them the other day but I haven't actually gone to one…Do you want to go with me?" Dead didn't hear the hesitation in Rock's voice as she asked the last part as she was so shocked by the question. Rock wanted to go somewhere with her? Why? Dead didn't want to ask and for some reason, the idea of going with Rock to a roller coaster place sounded like a good idea and so she accepted her invitation with a warm smile that she quickly hid with a roll of her eyes and a small "sure". Rock smiled and told her they could go the following weekend or a day after school. Having nothing else to say and feeling awkward from the conversation, Dead Master simply nodded and walked away. She didn't want Rock to think she actually wanted to go with her. If she were to ever admit that, it would be like admitting defeat to her.


	8. Dead Rocks and Roller Coasters

It had been a week since the party and the two former warriors were going to the amusement park. Rock had asked Yomi if she wanted to go too but she declined the offer as she had already made plans with Mato to go to a basketball game. She wasn't sure what to expect for today. She was really excited about going to the amusement park and getting to ride a roller coaster but wasn't sure if Dead Master would even show up. She had been observing her and noticed that Dead would not do anything that would make her look weak or caring since that would mean she gave importance to someone else (which would be social suicide for her if anyone found out she actually CARED). Showing up to a date with Rock fit perfectly in that category so Rock wasn't really expecting to see Dead waiting for her at the amusement park when she got there.

"You're early" Rock exclaimed in surprise "I'm not early. You're just late." Dead said without bating and eye. Rock's eyes narrowed but noticed that once again, Dead was wearing the skull necklace. For some reason, the necklace made Rock feel a bit better. It was like Dead's silent way of saying she actually did care about Rock. "Why are you giggling?" asked the warrior with a raised eyebrow. Rock hadn't even noticed she had been giggling until Dead pointed it out. She waved it off and simply said "It's nothing, just excited about the park. Wanna go already?"

The first few rides the girls went on had been… disappointing. They were very slow and not very tall. Their fights in the Realm had always been full of adrenaline and they were used to dying so this wasn't very "fun". Dead Master complained to Rock about how lame the rides were as they walked to the next one. Rock sighed in return and said that maybe the next one would be better. They had been saving the biggest ride for last but since all the rides seemed dull, they decided to just ride it and call it a day. The girls got on the front cart and waited for the ride to start. "I really hope this one is better." Commented Rock to her frenemy. Dead nodded in agreement and the ride started to move. Even though they both had hopes for the ride, it seemed like it was going to be just as boring as the rest. When they got to the very top they noticed that they were indeed very high up and they felt a chill run down their spine. They glanced at each other and grinned widely thinking "yes, this must be it! This must be the rush humans were talking about! We'll finally get to experience this too." But as the ride went down and continued to go they realized that it actually hadn't been that fun. The initial excitement they had felt at the top of the roller coaster had disappeared by the time they got halfway down. The two girls sighed as they got off and started walking towards the exit. "Well this was a waste of time and money." Dead grumbled. Rock nodded in disappointment and apologized for having suggested the idea. To her surprise, Dead smiled and waved it off saying it wasn't really her fault and it had gone better than staying home doing nothing. Rock smiled back and invited Dead to go eat at Yomi's place.

When the two girls got home they went to look for Yomi in her room but noticed she had still not come back from the basketball game with Mato. "That's good. If her mom saw both you and Yomi she would probably freak out." Rock pointed out and made an exaggerated expression with her eyes. They looked around the kitchen to see what they could potentially cook and decided on making some takoyaki. After cooking enough food for a whole family and eating their portions of the food, the two former warriors were tired and wanted to rest. Rock suggested they played a board game since they would just be sitting down but Dead rejected the idea and instead said she wanted to watch a movie. Rock shrugged and got one of Yomi's movies out to put on the TV in the living room. The movie had only just started to get good when Rock looked to her side and noticed that Dead Master had fallen asleep. "I guess she really was tired. Pfft, she probably gets tired from just walking, that slob." She thought to herself as she rolled her eyes and continued to watch the movie. When the movie ended, she looked over at Dead again. She didn't know what to do since they were both sitting on the sofa and her getting up could potentially wake up the sleeping Dead Master. Rock sighed and just stared at the girl. She had never noticed how peaceful and innocent she could look when she wasn't glaring at the world and trying to look bored. Suddenly, Dead moved a little and smiled and in her sleep which sent chills down Rock's spine. What was this sudden rush? It was similar to the one she had felt at the roller coaster but she didn't understand why. They weren't in any danger or very high up in the sky, so why did she feel like that. Rock frowned and put her hand over her chest as she could feel her heart pounding faster than it was a few seconds ago. She was just starting to wonder if Dead Master could hear it beating when she opened her eyes and made a face at her. "What are you doing?" she asked accusingly. Rock stuttered out an explanation as she backed away a bit. She hadn't even noticed ow close they had been sitting. Dead yawned and rolled her eyes "whatever, it's getting late already so Yomi and Mato should be back soon. I'm going home." Rock nodded in a hurried manner and walked her to the door. "Thanks for going with me." She said as she opened the door for Dead. The girls simply shrugged and walked away towards her house without ever looking back to see Rock's confused and blushing expression. When she finally closed the door she sighed with relief and went to her room. She knew about many feelings and colors a heart could feel but this was a new one. She felt joy but also sickness in her stomach and her heart wouldn't stop pounding although it had calmed down a bit since Dead had left. Could this feeling be love?

**Author's note: Sorry for the late upload. While the fanfic is not under the category of romance, it will include some from now on. Sorta. I'm bringing the whole thing to an end soon so just expect a lot of things to happen as we get to the top of the climax and get closer to judgment day. **


	9. The Soul of Music

Yuu had heard about Rock and Dead's trip to the amusement park and decided to ask Chariot if she wanted to go. As usual, Chariot declined the offer and continued working on her homework in silence. Yuu sighed but didn't give up. Usually when Chariot dismissed Yuu's attempt at making her go out somewhere, Yuu would just let the subject drop and do her own homework or go to her room and read a book to keep her mind occupied but this time she didn't. She stormed towards Chariot, grabbed her by the hand and took her outside. The blonde girl was too shocked to even resist or ask any questions until they were already outside the house and two blocks down the street. "Where are we going?" she asked with a bit of panic in her voice. Yuu had told Chariot to just talk to Kagari before or try to befriend her on her own and she was afraid that Yuu had grown tired on insisting this and had decided to just take her to Kagari's house. To her relief, Yuu was only taking her to a park nearby. Once again, Yuu sighed and grabbed Chariot's shoulders before speaking. "Chariot. You _**need**_to stop revolving your life around Kagari. I know she is your soul mate, the person who matters to you the most and who was the reason for your whole existence but things have changed! You and her and not tied together by emotions anymore. In fact, you're not tied together at all! If you really want her to notice you and acknowledge you the way she acknowledges her other friends then you need to develop your own personality and hope she likes it but even if she doesn't, you'll make better friends with other girls." Chariot stood in silence. She knew she was right and honestly wanted to try to become a better person, to be human, but she just didn't know how. She finally opened up and explained this to Yuu, how she wasn't revolving her life around Kagari anymore but she just didn't know how to become human or have her own personality. This was all new to her after all. Yuu smiled at Kagari and assured her things would be fine. There had been a time when she felt this way as well, in both the Realm and the normal world, and now she would help Chariot in any way she could. She had already done the first step which was admitting her feelings and asking for help, now all Chariot had to do was find something or someone that made her feel more at ease and comfortable.

The first place they went to was the art room at their school. Yuu wanted to take Chariot to the gym so she could join the volleyball team or the basketball one but Chariot said she wasn't too interested in sports. The art club was opened to everyone and so they both joined but soon realized it wasn't for them. Yuu was much more interested in going to basketball practice than paint something after school and while Chariot had been interested at the beginning she had eventually gotten bored and "ran out of inspiration". Seeing as how Yuu really wanted to play basketball, Chariot decided to give it a try. While the art club was opened to anybody wanting to join, the basketball club required students to try out. Sadly for the former warrior, basketball was not a skill she possessed nor had been taught how to play. Not even half way through the try outs, she decided that this was really not something she wanted to do. Yuu tried to convince her to try out for the volleyball team but Chariot firmly declined. She just wasn't into sports. Yuu didn't give up hope and reminded Chariot there were still plenty of clubs they could try out for but Chariot didn't want to hear it. She wasn't like Yuu, she didn't have all that hope and enthusiasm in her. She appreciated what Yuu was trying to do for her but was too tired to keep on going. Yuu sighed and nodded accepting Chariot's defeat. She really wanted her to be happy but she couldn't force her to try. As they were walking towards the school's main building, Chariot suddenly stopped. She could hear a beautiful sound coming from one of the rooms inside the school. Yuu had never seen the girl so exited before and had to run after her to catch since she seemed to be in a trance trying to find the source of the sound. She finally stopped running once she got to the music classroom and saw a boy playing a violin. "What is that?" she asked staring at the boy. "Bach. Partita N.2" he replied as he started to put away his music and violin. "No, please continue. I loved it." She said with a smile. The boy blushed a bit but continued to put away his instrument and music. "I'm sorry, I was just about leave though. I have to go home." Chariot's smile was quickly replaced with a sad frown which the boy to notice of. He looked at his watch and then back at the two girls. "Do you know how to play?" he asked. Chariot shook her head without making eye contact and simply stared at the floor. She had never been able to feel anything at all but in just a matter of minutes she had felt so much. Something about the music made her feel alive and something about the boy leaving made her wish she had never felt that. The boy could see her disappointment without having to see her eyes and approached her. Chariot looked up and saw the boy smiling. "You seemed really into the song. If you don't have anything to do after school, I could teach you. The music teacher lets me use this room to practice but I don't think he would mind if you came too." The girl beamed at his idea and quickly assured him she had nothing to do after school and would love to learn to play an instrument. Again, the boy smiled and nodded before excusing himself and walking away. Once he was gone, Chariot turned around to face Yuu who was also smiling widely. She had found her calling. There was something about the music that moved her, she couldn't explain what it was but she felt a calmness that she had not felt before. It made her forget everyone around her and feel like it was only her waltzing through an empty forest as the song played its melodic tune. She couldn't wait to be able to play something as beautiful as what the boy had played. She was dying to enter and become part of the world of music.


	10. Crushing Dreams

It had been two months since the amusement park incident and Chariot's discovery of music. By now, the warriors had assimilated into the human world and had even forgotten that Black Gold Saw was trying to find a new portal to send them to a different Realm. Not that it mattered, they didn't want to go back anymore. Chariot had made a few friends after the day she met Kukai, the boy with the violin. She was great at playing and continued to practice every day after school with him in the classroom they had met. Yuu was more than happy to see that Chariot was finally socializing but still tried to get her to try out more things or go places (so far she had just gotten her to go to a symphony). Things were going great for Chariot, so great that she had even stopped worrying about Kagari noticing her.

While things were going great for the blond warrior, things weren't quite the same for Rock and Dead Master. After the day at the amusement park, Rock had begun to avoid Dead Master. It took the green-loving girl a few days to notice but once she did, she couldn't ignore it. She had caught her staring a few times but her stares were always looks of confusion and frustration. After a few weeks, Dead stopped trying to talk to Rock and simply acted like she didn't care (which wasn't very hard for her). Yomi and Mato had taken noticed of the awkward tension between the two and had also tried to help but with no success. It wasn't until Yuu invited everyone over for a sleepover that things started to clear up.

"Hey! So glad you could come. Everyone's here already" greeted Yuu as Dead Master and Mato walked in through the door. It had been a while since everyone had gathered at Yuu's home but things didn't look too different. The atmosphere seemed a bit more cheerful than the previous time though, even if there was a bit of awkwardness.

This was the warriors' first official "sleepover" so the girls explained to them what was going on. They were going to eat junk food, watch movies, play games, and just talk about things in general. Rock smiled and nodded, she felt comfortable with what they described as a sleepover as she basically had one each day with Yomi. Dead and Chariot did a simple head nod and agreed to take part of it. They weren't as enthusiastic as the rest but they weren't going to ruin the night for everybody.

The night went by fast and suddenly, they found themselves at the point in the sleepover when things got personal and deep. Everybody began by asking Chariot about her new friends and giggled when they asked about Kukai. Chariot assured them they were only friends and did not understand why everybody was blushing and giggling, telling her that it was only her who thought of it as just a friendship. Suddenly everybody was talking about boys and crushes, going around asking each other if they had a significant other in their life. When they got to Rock however, things took a sudden turn. "Do you like anybody?" Mato asked the warrior with a teasing smile. Rock shuffled a bit and declared that she did. Everyone gasped, and the other two warriors looked at her in shock. They had been able to assimilate and become a bit more human but neither one of them had gotten to the point of actually loving someone. "Who is he?!" they all asked eagerly. Rock seemed to shrink a bit. "She's a girl."

After Rock revealed her crush was a female, everyone gasped. Rock looked down in awkwardness but not for long as the excitement soon returned and the girls continued to ask who this girl was and what she looked like and if she was in their class. Rock didn't answer any questions but instead looked for Dead Master's eyes. She caught them and noticed no expression in them. She probably didn't know. She was too narcissist thinking that everyone loved her to notice when someone really did. Seeing as how she wasn't answering any of the questions, the girls decided to leave her alone and continued to make their round. When they got to Dead Master, Rock looked up, hopeful that the warrior might respond with a vague answer or a yes but to her disappointment, Dead Master admitted to being unable to love anyone. Rock silently sighed and the sleepover continued on until a phone rang interrupting all the fun…

"Hello?" Chariot spoke into the cellphone. The girls all sat in silence, attentively listening since Chariot had told them it was Kukai calling. They had expected to hear something cute or interesting that proved their claim of Kukai liking Chariot but they didn't even hear a boy's voice on the phone. Chariot's face was expressionless and the light in her eyes had seemed to die out. "Okay. Thank you. Good night." She said as she hung up and looked around. Nobody knew what was going on but knew it couldn't be good. "He… he's… gone. Dead is permanent here. He must have not known. He must have thought it was temporary. He-" Chariot couldn't finish the sentence before she burst into tears. The girls tried to hug her but something stopped them. As they were about to hug her, they noticed something orange and gold flashing. It was like she was glowing in light and for a split second, she looked the way she used to look back in the Realm.


	11. Chariot Overflow

After the phone call had occurred, the sleepover had died out and everyone pretended to go to sleep. At first they had tried to get Chariot to talk about what exactly had happened but she simply kept murmuring "It's not temporary. He must have not known. It's not temporary" over and over again. The girls all looked at each other sharing the same thought: Kukai was dead.

Not many people seemed to know Kukai at school and if they did, they didn't show it as only a couple of people were lamenting his death the next day. One of those people was Kimura-sensei, Kukai's music teacher. He had known about Chariot and her connection to Kukai as the boy always talked about her and what new music he thought she would enjoy playing. Chariot's eyes teared up a bit as he continued to talk about Kukai; he had been a great student with amazing potential in the music world had it not been for his depression. At the mentioning of depression, Chariot looked up. She didn't know what that was. Was it a disease? The teacher explained that Kukai suffered from depression ever since he was a young boy. While his parents had tried their hardest to make Kukai's life wonderful, their attempt at it had had the opposite effect. Working every day to make more money and give Kukai everything he wanted, they rarely spent time with him and left him alone to wander around their "home". This had never bothered Kukai that much as this was all he knew and had assumed it was a normal part of life until he saw parents hugging their children and waving goodbye on the first day of school. It was then that he realized something was wrong.

Chariot listened to Kimura-sensei's narration of Kukai's life through school and how his depression and loneliness had consumed him in every possible way until it had eventually finished him off completely. "But he was always happy! He would always smile at me and seem so cheerful and calm when he played! I… I don't understand!" she wailed in tears. The teacher gave her a warm hug and sighed. "Just because he smiled and looked happy doesn't mean he was. He was trying. He was really trying for you and I truly thought he was getting better. He confided me that he had finally met someone who made him feel alive and complete and wanted to share his feelings with her since she had admitted to feeling empty. I assume he meant you when he said that as you were the only person he ever talked about and cared for. I don't understand why he did what he did but I know you made his last moments here better." The girl broke down some more and continued to cry long after Kimura-sensei had departed and the school had been emptied. She just didn't understand. Why had Kukai done such a thing? If everyone but her had known about his 'depression' disease, why had no one tried to help him? It made no sense! Rage had replaced the sadness she felt at the beginning and doubled in intensity by the time she arrived home with Yuu.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Chariot shook her head in the negative. Yuu nodded in response and decided to leave the girl alone. Kimura-sensei had invited Chariot to Kukai's funeral but the warrior had declined. If she didn't go, it wouldn't be true. She could just pretend that she would go to school the next day and find him in the music room playing his instrument like the day they had met. He would apologized for having been absent and show her the new music he had gotten for her. She could pretend this was real. She could pretend he had never taken pills and gone to sleep forever. She could pretend he was just sick and would get better in a few days. She could pretend but she knew it wasn't true. By now she had stopped crying and gone back to showing no emotion like when she had first arrived in this world. Yuu knew Chariot was trying to be strong and keep it together but she also knew this would never end well. In this world, when bad things happened and girls got sad, the warriors in the Realm would protect them and help them get over it. But what happens when a warrior goes through this type of pain? What happens when there is nobody to help her cope with things? Yuu could try to help her but if Chariot didn't let her in, she would never be able to do anything.

Weeks had passed and things had gone back to how they were at the beginning. Chariot rarely spoke to anyone but Yuu, Rock and Dead shared awkward tension between each other, Mato and Yomi continued to hang out and tried to get Rock and Dead to be friends, while Kagari continued to be oblivious to Chariot's existence and kept to her group of friends and Yomi. The warriors had insisted that Chariot spoke to Saya or Black Gold Saw about Kukai's suicide but Chariot refused. She didn't want to speak of it. She had stopped playing any type of music and whenever Yuu tried to get her to go to a symphony, she would simply say she had a lot of homework and lock herself in her room. Nobody bothered Chariot anymore and eventually they just went about their lives as usual.

It was Monday morning and a new semester was just about to begin. Everyone was running around checking their friends' schedules to see if they shared any classes. Chariot glanced at her schedule and cringed a bit inside. "Homeroom: Kimura-sensei" Just as she was starting to ignore everything about Kukai, fate just went and brought everything back. She let out a sigh and walked towards the music room, room 451, where she was to be for the rest of the school year every morning. "Chariot-san, what a joy to have you in my class this morning!" Kimura-sensei beamed as she walked in the room. Chariot nodded politely and took a seat near the door. She thought that if she stayed as far away from the window where Kukai would sit and talk about music and nature or the back where they kept all the instruments, she would be able to think of this room as just any other classroom in the school. If she could just ignore the melancholy smell that this room seemed to produce, maybe she would be able to go on throughout the day as usual. But as she sat down and the room filled up with students, she realized she couldn't. These people didn't know the true beauty this room held. They were polluting it with their loud noise and cheery laughs. This room deserved silence if not the delicate sound of music to bounce of its walls. But Chariot didn't say anything. She sat in silence with her fist clenched as the people continued to pollute the room and rip apart its beauty. She sat there as the room lost all sense of pureness and as the presence of Kukai vanished.

By the time the bell rang to change classes, Chariot came to the realization that she didn't feel anything. She had never acknowledge it but she had come to feel human emotions. Like a bucket that gets filled with drops little by little, it was impossible to know when she had begun to feel so much. She knew it had begun the day she heard Kukai playing his violin in the empty classroom. But that had been only the beginning, a faint wave of feelings that would later become an ocean. She had come to feel joy and calmness when she played and heard music, excitement for each new piece he would bring, fear at the thought of never seeing Kukai again, and ultimately sadness as the realization finally sunk in that he was never coming back. Just as she began to realize all this and started feeling empty inside, something else came in. She thought she was going to go back to feeling nothing, a miracle as she didn't _**want **_to feel anything anymore, but she was wrong. She couldn't go back to just not feeling anything after all she had felt. Rage consumed her entire being but this rage wasn't directed at the world. It wasn't towards the people for not having helped Kukai. It was at Kukai himself. How could he have done this to her? Did he not care about how she would feel? Why didn't he tell her about his problems? Did he not trust her? Why had he offered to teach her and given her all these happy memories if he was going to leave her after only a few months? Why had he told Kimura-sensei that she made him feel complete if he didn't? Was she not enough? All of this questions started to go through Chariot's mind, a thousand new ones coming in every minute. She was so engulfed in thought that she hadn't even noticed when the room had grown quiet and everyone around had stepped away. They all stood in awe several feet away as the girl burst in orange flames and a full armor came about her body in a bright yellow ball of light.


	12. Dead Rock Chariot

The whole class had ran out the door screaming about the girl in battle armor and flames. Rock, who had been in a classroom nearby heard the commotion and wondered what the whole thing was about. Could it be her friend? No, Chariot wasn't a warrior in this land and besides, she was never on FIRE. Rock questioned whether or not she should go check it out but her teacher seemed to have sensed this and quickly stated that nobody would be leaving her classroom until the bell rang. This gave Rock no choice but to stay in class and wait until later to check it out.

A few rooms down the hall, Yuu, Yomi, and Kagari were having math class when suddenly Kagari fell down to her knees. "What happened? Are you okay?" Yomi asked her friend with concern. Kagari trembled with pain and tried to shake her head as she was unable to speak. Everyone looked around quizzically trying to understand what was going on or how to help her. Just then a wave of students passed by the classroom and screamed of fire and flashes of light. Yomi turned to look at Yuu and saw only horror in her face. "What is it?" she asked."I-I don't know but-she-her-Chariot is back." Yuu stammered as she stared at Kagari twitching on the floor. Yomi didn't understand what Yuu was talking about but assumed Chariot and Kagari were having some sort of connection at the moment. Had they become soul mates again?

Dead Master was roaming the hallway when the stampede of students came her way. She heard the jumbled up words of the students and made out "armored girl", "light" and "fire". That was enough for her to know what was happening. Chariot. She didn't know HOW but Dead Master knew Chariot had gone back to being a warrior. Had she opened a portal? That must be it. Finally, a way back home. A way back to something she understood. Without hesitation, Dead raced down the hall following the invisible trail the students had left behind.

The bell rang just as Rock saw Dead Master sprinting down the hallway. Was she going the same or opposite way as the students from before? Rock didn't have to hesitate this time, she quickly got up and ran in the same direction she had seen her precious frenemy go. Dead didn't have too much of a lead on her but Rock had to admit she ran pretty fast. As they continued to run, Rock noticed the lights flickering and a light flashing from inside a room. When the two girls got to it, neither one could believe what was there. In the front of the room stood Chariot the same way they remembered her from the other world but now her hair was made of flames and her eyes were wild. "Are you making a portal?" Dead Master questioned as she moved around Chariot. The girl seemed to be unable to hear her and simply remained where she stood in her gulf of flames. Dead frowned as she did not get an answer and reached out to touch Chariot's shoulder. "WAIT!" Yelled Rock before Dead could do anything. The girl looked at Rock in annoyance. "She could be dangerous. You don't know what's happening." Dead rolled her eyes and crossed her arms "Really? You're scared of _Chariot? _How pathetic can you get? Don't you remember the relationship Yomi and Kagari used to have? I think I can handle Chariot now." Rock shook her head and walked closer to Dead. "No, that's not it. This Chariot is different from the old Chariot. I know she put you through hell back in the day and that you survived that so now you think you can survive anything but you don't know what this is. You can DIE in this world! She's somehow in her armor but you're not! You're just as mortal as anybody else!" Dead glared at her and got closer to Rock. "And since when do YOU care? It's not like you've ever cared for me- for goodness sake you've been ignoring me for weeks up until a few moments ago! Stop acting like you care about me just because you're too scared to even get close to Chariot!" By this time she was standing only centimeters away from the blue-haired girl. Rock let out a yell of desperation and grabbed Dead Master by the shoulders. "YOU IDIOT! I love you, okay?! I do care about you! I've been ignoring you because I can't get the guts to talk to you anymore! I- I'm sorry if it seemed like I didn't care. I-I just-AGH! I'm sorry I love you! I don't understand this either! You've made me feel everything and now I just- I just can't" the girl let go of the stunned Dead Master and fell to her knees. Dead's lips opened but no sound came out. She was in too much shock; Rock had gone back to her former self too. The uniform had been replaced by a black hoodie that covered Rock's bra and black shorts. Dead looked around in a panic, on one side stood Chariot in orange flames and on the other was Rock on her knees with her former outfit and eyes made of purple flames. What's with the flames!? They had never had flames before so why were they having them now? Before anything else could happen, she ran out the room and ran towards Saya's office.

Yomi, Yuu and Kagari were already in Saya's office when Dead got there. "Did something happen to Rock?" Yuu asked in concern. Dead nodded and looked at the other girls. She noticed Mato and Kagari were both in visible pain as they laid on the sofa. "What's going on?" she asked almost yelling. Saya turned to Black Gold Saw and nodded. "We have started making a few conclusions but it is too soon to tell a definite answer. While we still need more information, we have concluded that they might be detaching themselves." "What?" the three girls asked. The women explained that from what they had seen, Chariot and Rock had begun to have feelings of their own and that they had perhaps reached a point where they couldn't handle them anymore. This overflow of feelings was creating a new realm like the one they had previously inhabited as there was now a need for warriors again. "I'm still confused. What are you saying? Why are they on fire?" Saya and Black Gold Saw looked at one another with worry. "We didn't know anything about a fire. We thought they were becoming part of this world and having a warrior of their own awaken in the other world."

Dead, Yuu, and Black Gold Saw hurried to the room where the two warriors had burst into flames. As they entered the room, Dead noticed they hadn't change in position at all and had remained on the same spot where she had last seen them. "It's the intensity of their feelings. That's what the fire is." Yuu said. Black Gold Saw nodded in a form of question, prompting Yuu to continue explaining. "When we were in the other world, they would get fire or bursts of light when they were going to battle. This simply shows the intensity of their own emotions. We had never seen them like this because as warriors, they couldn't feel much and were not designed to feel. Kukai's death was probably too much for Chariot to handle. She cared for him a lot and I saw her becoming depressed even though she tried to fight it. I don't know what set of Rock though. She seemed just fine." At the mentioning of Rock, Dead Master gulped down her guilt. She knew it was somehow her fault for having set of Rock. But why? What did she mean? "You've made me feel everything and now I just- I just can't"? What was that about? And why had she said she loved her? Rock and Dead Master had never even had a great friendship to begin with so how could she claim to love her? Dead sighed and looked at Yuu before simply saying, "I don't know either." And walking away.


	13. Flame Warrior

Everyone on campus had heard of Chariot bursting into flames but few had heard about Rock. Nobody was allowed even in the same hallways as the girls in the classroom and they had closed all the windows. "What's going to happen to them now?" Dead Master had asked in a monotone voice. Yuu shrugged and glanced at the two adults hoping for an explanation but found none. Nobody knew what was going to happen, Chariot and Rock were engulfed in flames while Mato and Kagari could hardly breathe from the pain. "What should we do, Saya-san?" Yuu asked as she looked around at her friends. The counselor rubbed her temples and sighed. "The best thing we can do is wait. I don't think anyone should come into contact with Rock or Chariot as we do not know what the effect will be. It could disturb whatever process they are in or cause us harm as they seem to be extremely powerful." Black Gold Saw nodded in agreement and picked up Kagari and Rock. "I think we should take them to the room with the other girls. Even if it doesn't make a difference, we will be able to keep an eye on both."

Hours passed and nothing seemed to change. Mato and Kagari had passed out from the pain and the flames from their former warriors had stayed the same. It wasn't until the sun had begun to set that Chariot finally awoke. "Are you okay?" they all asked in unison and quickly surrounded her. "Yes, I'm-I'm okay now." She said slowly, holding her head as calmly as if she had just woken up from a nap. "What happened?" Yuu asked the girl. Kagari's eyes suddenly went wild as she spoke, "I don't know... I was fine and suddenly there was this horrible pain in my chest. It felt horrible! It was as if someone had taken all the air out of my lungs and decided to blend spikes inside of me. My vision got blurry and then I passed out. When I was asleep, I saw Chariot. Well, I heard her. I couldn't see anything but I could hear her crying and gasping for air. I tried to find her but I couldn't see anything until suddenly a blue light started to shine. I followed it until I found the source- a capsule seemed to be holding a blue boy that emitted the bright glowing blue light. As I got closer, he opened his eyes and smiled. He… he looked like…Kukai." They all let out a small gasp and backed away a bit in their own thoughts. "I think this might be her warrior." Black Gold Saw said. Saya, for the first time, seemed to disagree with her. "A warrior? He's a boy. Warriors are supposed to be a reflection of yourself. A version of yourself that can deal with the situation and make you feel better, not the embodiment of your pain!" BGS shook her head and spoke, "this is a different Realm. A different warrior. We're not from here and so the rules don't really apply. Kukai was what caused her pain so maybe only he can help her get better." "It's their inner demons." Saya replied almost in a whisper. Yuu looked over at Chariot. How as Kukai going to help her if he was dead? Black Gold Saw noticed Yuu's worried look and seemed to read her mind. "Kukai might be dead but his spirit still lives. It might be able to go to this other Realm and help Chariot. Or maybe it's just a form that her warrior took and it's not really Kukai. Either way, it's really all up to her." Yuu nodded and then jumped up. "What if we played some music? It might be up to her to get better but we could help. She loved to listen to classical music and it holds a special connection with Kukai so it could help her feel better or calm down." The others agreed and looked around trying to find a music player. Eventually they found a record player and put on some classical music. Almost instantly, there was a change….

Everyone stood in awe as the orange flames began to die out. Chariot had been standing the whole time but now she lowered herself to a crawling position and began to cry. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'll let you go now. Thank you for the memories." And with those last words, the flames died completely and she smiled. Silence followed. Nobody knew what to say. They all wanted to ask if she was okay and check for her well-being but also didn't want to come near her. It wasn't out of fear like before, this time they stayed away because she seemed to be having an intimate moment with Kukai somewhere in this world or the other. Eventually, Chariot stood up on her own and answered the questions no one had asked out loud. "I'm okay." She said, "I saw Kukai again. I heard the music and found him in a kind of armor. He was playing his violin and he smiled at me. He apologized for not having told me about anything that was bothering but explained that he had done so because I was what brought him joy and he wanted to spare me the pain. It still hurts but he said he couldn't move on unless I let him go. We had to both let go of each other as he also couldn't let go of me knowing how I was so we both let go of each other. He's better now." Everyone smiled and hugged Chariot. They all knew Kukai had meant a lot to Chariot and her letting go of him had taken a lot of courage from her. Just as everyone had begun to feel at ease, Mato started to stir in her sleep. It had been a while since Kagari had awakened so they knew it was only a matter of minutes before Mato woke up as well.

Mato's eyes fluttered open and her gaze went directly to Dead Master. "What did you do? Why were you there?" she asked in a mixture of accusation and sadness. Everyone in the room turned to stare at Dead Master who didn't meet anyone's eyes. She had known it was her fault but what could she say? She didn't understand so how would she explain? "I didn't do anything." Was her honest answer. Saya and Black Gold Saw turned from Dead Master to Mato and asked her what she had seen. Mato told them without taking her eyes off Dead Master that she had seen the green warrior inside a cage. Mato could hear Rock crying and screaming but couldn't find the source until she saw that Dead had a necklace dangling from her fingers which contained a blue light. "It was really strange. Dead Master was actually wearing red instead of green but her warrior outfit was the same as her old one. Everything was red except for the blue light inside the necklace. God, the screams were coming from the necklace! Rock was trapped inside it! And Dead Master just smirked and kept playing with the necklace. She didn't even look at me until the very end when she made eye contact with me and said 'shh'. Then I woke up." Everyone's eyes went back to Dead Master. They had agreed that the new warriors were a reflection of their inner demons. The reason they were suffering. So what Dead Master done to Rock? Mato seemed to be the most accusing one of them all, Dead Master felt everyone coming closer to her but she said nothing. She couldn't say anything! She let out a long sigh and decided to lie. They weren't going to understand the truth but she had a plan. "It's complicated. We got in an argument when we came to see Chariot. I was going to grab Chariot to see if she would respond and Rock stopped me because she said it was dangerous. I told her she was just scared and well… I told her a lot of mean things I guess. It must have caused her to break down. Maybe she was already struggling with something and I just finished it off." She said in fake apology. "I'd like to talk to her though. In private. Maybe she'll listen to me and come back." They all nodded and started to make their way out but Mato stayed behind. "Are you really going to try and bring her back?" Dead Master nodded and smiled sincerely at Mato. Dead knew Mato wanted to trust her but couldn't. It was fine, D.M. didn't need Mato's approval or trust right now, she just needed to have some time alone with Rock. Mato sighed and walked outside to join the others.

"Look at all the mess you've caused. Are you happy?" Dead spoke as she walked around Rock. She still couldn't understand Rock but her confusion kept shifting from anger to despair to more confusion. She wasn't mad at Rock but she was. She wanted to act cool about it but the truth was that she wanted to rip herself apart with her bare hands. Finally she sighed and sat down next to Rock. "Look, about what you said before, I just wanted to say… thanks. Uh, I guess, you were right. Chariot was dangerous and it was a bad idea for me to get near her. I'm okay though and I owe that to you. Thanks. But I guess that's not what this is about. *Sigh* okay, I'll be honest. I don't know what to say. You're making me feel confused. You said you loved me but, I can't say that back to you." The flames grew larger but Dead stayed where she was. "I've never really understood you. You've been my rival ever since Mato and Yomi first met and I'll admit I didn't really like you at the beginning. I mean, how could I? We were supposed to kill each other in the Realm. But in this new world, I was actually starting to grow fond of you. I can't say the word love because I would be lying to you. I don't know such feeling yet but maybe it's because I haven't let myself feel it. I don't know if you can hear me or what you think of me now but I would really like it if you came back. Maybe we could talk about things. Maybe we can work things out. Maybe… maybe we can… maybe we can try something between friendship and love." The flames hadn't stopped even after Dead Master had said this and had instead grown larger. The flames were now consuming Dead Master as well but she did not feel any heat. The flames were cold and seemed to be making a type of bubble around the two girls. Dead looked around and realized the flames had changed color. Or rather there now seemed to be two flames combined. Rock opened her eyes and her hands went directly to her mouth. "Oh my god. You're in flames too! We're both in flames!" Dead laughed at Rock's observation. She finally understood what Rock had meant about feeling everything and then "agh". She felt that too and she was happy.


	14. A New Beginning

Outside the classroom, Yomi had momentarily fallen to the ground in agony and everyone could see new flames growing inside the classroom with Rock and Dead Master. They were about to go inside when they realized Yomi had gotten up almost as fast as she had fallen. "What was that?" Yuu asked her friend as she held her arm. "I don't know. I suddenly felt this wave of pain and saw Rock in the distance and then I didn't feel pain anymore. I don't know what that means but that's all I saw." Everyone nodded and peeked inside the classroom. Rock and Dead Master were both sitting on the ground smiling- without flames.

"Care to explain?" Yomi and Mato asked their warriors in a mixture of annoyance and joy. They were both happy they had come back but were also upset that they had gone through pain for them. Then again, the warriors had taken their burdens for years. "What did Dead Master do to you?" Rock's eyes grew wide as she heard Mato say this. How did she know? "Nothing. Dead didn't do…anything." Mato glared with suspicion. She knew there was something she was hiding and wanted to know what it was. "Rock, when you burst in flames, I went into a sort of come of pain. I could see your thoughts and I saw Dead Master holding you prisoner inside a necklace." Rock's cheeks turned bright red and she couldn't help but glance at Dead Master with a sheepish smile.

"She didn't do anything wrong. I was just feeling confused and directed my feelings towards her. We're fine though."

"Then why did Yomi see you when Dead Master burst in flames? What happened between you two?"

"Wait what? Yomi saw ME?"

Rock had seen Dead Master on flames but hadn't stopped to analyze what that meant. Dead Master being on flames mean that she had felt something. Something towards Rock! Without missing a beat, Rock turned around to face Dead Master directly. Dead had no response but met her gaze. "What?" she asked monotone. "What did you feel? What did I do?" she asked the green warrior. "You pissed me off." Rock frowned and glared at her a bit. She had been expecting something that at least resembled joy or love but apparently that wasn't an option. And then she heard it. The most beautiful laugh she had ever heard. Dead Master was laughing her lungs out and giving Rock a side hug. "I'm kidding, you dork! I mean, you did piss me off but that wasn't the feeling that caused the fire. I-You-You made me feel…everything and then agh! Yeah, I guess that's the only way to put it." Rock smiled while the other girls looked at both of them in confusion. They had no clue what was going on but could only join them in laughter and joy as their happiness was contagious.

* * *

Dead Master and Rock found themselves alone together. Not by chance but also not a date. Dead had invited Rock to go for a walk around the new dog park in the city and Rock had happily accepted. It had been a few days since the whole flames encounter but Dead had failed to ever explain anything to Rock. She knew Rock wanted to know what her feelings were towards her but Dead didn't want to crush Rock's hopes. She wasn't in love with her. But she wanted to explain and talk with Rock about...several things.

R:"So...Chariot's doing pretty good now."

D:"Yeah. She and Yuu have become really good friends and Chariot has even started teaching Yuu a bit of music. Don't tell anyone but I think Yuu already knows how to play and she's just going along with Chariot to make her happy."

R:"Really? I doubt it. Either way, it's great that Chariot finally let Yuu into her life."

D:"Yeah... talking about letting people into one's life, I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

R:"What is it?" (There was a hint of fear in her voice but also enthusiasm)

D:"I know you want an explanation ab-"

R:"Yes"

D:"Let me finish, woman. God, okay. As I was saying, I know you want an explanation but first I need to ask you something. Do you remember or could you hear anything I said while you were in flames?"

R:"I have a vague memory of what you said but not really. I just remember hearing your voice and then seeing you on flames in front of me."

D:"Okay. Well, basically I was just asking you a lot of things. I was very confused. You- You said you loved me but it was...weird. I had never expected that from you and it scared me a bit-still does- because I don't know what that feeling is like."

R: ...

D: ...

R:"Uh. Well... what do you feel now?"

D.:"I feel weird. I care about you in a way I didn't know I could but... I don't think it's love. It's not you though. It's not that I don't love you. It's more just that I don't know how to love you. I'm sorry."

R:...

The girls had been walking the whole time but now they had come to a stop. Dead's legs felt like water and her heart wouldn't stop racing. She had been honest about her feelings towards Rock but she didn't know how to feel. She was scared of what Rock's response might be. What if Rock became upset because of this and couldn't stand being her friend? What if it was either enemies or lovers? She didn't want either one of the two. To Dead's surprise, Rock turned and smiled. "Thank you." "For what?" "For telling me. It's okay if you don't love me back. I want to be friends with you too. We can stay this way if you want." Dead smiled back awkwardly. She hadn't gotten to tell her that she wanted to try to love her. She wanted to tell her that she did feel something more than friendship but that she didn't know how to act about it. She wanted to tell her this but she couldn't; her mouth had become a desert. "Are you okay? You look a bit weird." Rock had noticed Dead's awkward face and stiff posture. Dead sighed and she looked at Rock seriously. "Do you really love me?" she asked the blue haired girl. Rock felt her cheeks burning but she nodded in the affirmative. Dead sighed again and smirked. "Then you won't mind." Rock was about to ask what she meant when suddenly Dead's lips were pressed against hers. The world seemed to stop for a few seconds before Rock abruptly pulled away. "What the hell was that?! You just said you didn't love me! I'm so confused!" Dead scratched her head awkwardly. "Sorry. I did that out of impulse. Uh, well you didn't let me finish. What I mean to say was that I don't know how to love but I do have feelings for you... And I want to explore them with you. You seem to know what love is so maybe you can help me understand it. I don't know if my 'love' is the same as your but I don't want to limit myself and be closed towards you. I want to feel all the colors of the rainbow...and I think you hold the key to that."


End file.
